Both Rudy Giuliani [NBC News] and John Edwards [Washingtonpost.com] dropped out of the race today. A year ago, I would have named each of these men as their respective party’s most electable candidate. Turns out, neither one campaigned as their party (or at least the voters) expected: Giuliani didn’t give a damn and Edwards gave too much of a damn.
I don’t think there’s much of a question around whose endorsement is worth more to the recipient – that would be Giuliani – but it will be more interesting to see who Edwards will endorse, if anyone. Meanwhile, I think a McCain endorsement out of Giuliani is a good bet.
Update: Turns out Giuliani endorsed McCain during his concessions speech [Financial Times]. And with Rudy out of the race, apparently McCain is the only “American hero” left and he’s got the former Mayor and even Arnie on his side to prove it:
After announcing his exit, Mr Giuliani said Mr McCain was “the most qualified candidate” to be president, describing him as someone who could be “trusted in times of crisis”.
Mr McCain said he was honoured to have won the support of an “American hero”, referring to Mr Giuliani’s leadership of New York after the September 11 attacks, and vowed to use him as a “strong right arm” in tackling terrorism.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, is expected on Thursday to endorse Mr McCain, aides to the Arizona senator were reported as saying, adding momentum to his campaign.
Mr Schwarzenegger recently told the Financial Times that Mr McCain was an “action hero” who had proved he could cope with the pressure of being president. “In the end, when people go in the voting booth, those are the things they carry with them in there. They don’t remember so much all the policies,” he said.
